4/21/12

This is the first version of the 'who is hot in the Twins' minors' series for 2012. I have been doing this for a few years now and 3 weeks into the 2012 season, there are enough IPs and PAs and is about time I get the first version of 2012 out. I will be updating those in pretty much monthly basis.

About a month into the minor league seasons now, it is not surprising to confirm that the Twins have a nice pitching depth in all levels of their minors (including LHP, which has been one of the organizational weaknesses in recent seasons. It is nice to see a balance between leftie and rightie arms, even though it is early in the season) There are several pitchers in Rochester who can jump in and contribute with the big team, as necessary. In addition, pretty much the whole starting rotation in New Britain is hot, which might result to interesting moves as this month progresses.

The bats are a bit cool this time of the year, but it is nice to see that the Twins' top prospects are pretty hot. Speaking on top prospects, Angel Morales after a lost 2011, is quickly putting himself back to the top prospect list. Also nice, as far as the big club goes, is the fact that Brian Dozier and Mike Hollimon are hot in Rochester, in case the Twins need middle infield help (the only position that is not backed up well in the major league club).

4/20/12

This is the second installment in this series. You can find the first one here and all of them here in reverse chronological order. I will be doing these approximately weekly or at the end of every 2 series.

In the last 2 series against the Yankees and Rangers the Twins as a team hit a respectable .279/.328/.434 with 6 HR and scored 28 runs. This was not enough to get them to finish better than 2-5 in these series. Part of the problem was striking out 52 times in 271 plate appearances, grounding into 6 double plays and stranding 54 runners, an average of 7.7 runners a game.

The Twins Hitter of the Week was:

Justin Morneau

.261/.370/.652 3 HR, 4 RBI, 6 R in 27 plate appearances

Unlike the hitting, the Twins' pitching in the last 2 series was primarily responsible for their 2-7 record against the Rangers and the Yankees. As a team, the Twins pitched to a 5.46 ERA, allowing 79 hits (including 13 home runs, 15 doubles and a triple,) 37 Runs (all earned) in 61 innings, facing 272 batters. They threw 959 total pitches and 612 of them were strikes. The walked 14 and struck out 35. This results in a 1.53 WHIP, 5.2 K/9 and 2.5 K/BB.

Interestingly enough, Stealing a page from Pontius Pilatus' book, Terry Ryan, the Twins' interim GM, washed his hands from accountability on player personnel decisions in the Twins' organization, especially the Luke Hughes release, attributing those decisions to Ron Gardenhire and proclaimed that his role is "just" that of a facilitator (last paragraph in the linked article.)

So Terry Ryan's role is to "facilitate" Ron Gardenhire's personnel decisions. Yesterday, within half day after I tweeted this, my fears about Gardenhire's true intentions were confirmed by Rhett Bollinger the Twins' MLB.com beat writer... Also in the last paragraph of this writeup by La Velle Neal and in the last paragraph of this one by Rhett Bollinger, albeit a bit subdued by quotes of Gardenhire not being sure of what he wants to do and that he wants "to do the right thing" (unfortunately, the time for the latter has passed...)

Here is the reason why Luke Hughes was released:

When that decision will be announced, expect to hear about how that will provide the club with versatility and about how much better Drew has been hitting this season in Rochester. Meanwhile, hints like the ones I mentioned previously about Butera's ascent to the major leagues will be coming slowly and steadily...

I hope that the Twins' fans and ownership have long enough memories and hold accountable the people who are responsible for losing...

4/19/12

In honor of the 12 game hitting streak of Joshua David (Josh) Willingham and his league-leading 5 home runs, with the Minnesota Twins.

a. Click to play the music in the video below:

b. Read the lyrics below while it's playing:

Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this

My, my, my bat just hits so hard Makes me say "Oh my Lord" Thank you for blessing me With an arm to hit and two strong feet It feels good, when you know it's out A super dope homeboy from the Oaktown And I'm known as such And this is a home run, uh, you can't catch

Fresh new hits, advance You gotta like that, now you know you wanna runSo move, outta your seat Let me get a long fly ball and catch up to this heatWhile it's rolling, hold on Pump a little bit and let 'em know it's goneLike that, like that Cold on a mission so rake them allLet 'em know, that you're too much And this is a ball, uh, you can't catch

Yo, I told you (can't catch this) Why you standing there, man? (can't catch this) Yo, smash the ball, runs are in, sucka (can't catch this) Give me a curve or a fast ball Make 'em sweat, that's what I'm giving 'em allNow, they know You talking about the Hammer you talking about a show That's high, and tight Pitchers are sweating so pass them a wipe Or a tape, to learn What's it gonna take in the 10's to burn The charts? Legit Either work hard or you might as well quit

That's word because you know...

Can't catch this Can't catch this Hit it out! Runs, Hammer time!

Go with the pitch, it is said That if you can't groove to this then you probably are dead So wave your hands in the air Bust a few moves, pump your fist through the airThis is it, for a winner Hit to this and you're gonna get meanerMove, slide your rump Just for a minute let's all do the bump, bump, bump

Every time you see me The Hammer's just so braveI'm dope with a curve and I'm magic with a changeNow why would I ever stop doing this? With others making records they just don't hit I've played around the world, from Miami to the Bay It's "Hammer, go Hammer, JD Hammer, yo Hammer" And the rest can go and play

Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this Can't catch this

By now the fact that the Twins have designated Luke Hughes for assignment to clear a 25-man roster for Jason Marquis is old news. I have always felt that Luke Hughes was a player with a lot of potential but for some reason the Twins did not see that and unfortunately might be added to a list of players including David Ortiz, Sergio Santos and Garrett Jones who have flourished after the Twins released them.

Why Luke Hughes got a rotten deal by the Twins?

He was not given a chance when he deserved it, but was by-passed for lesser players: In 2008 when he was 23 years old,in a season split between Rochester and New Britain he hit .309/.369/.524 with 18 HR. If Brian Dozier has these numbers in 2012 in Rochester at age 25 and he is not with the Twins in 2013, there will be cries of "bloody murder" all over. Instead of giving Hughes a chance to a starting job in 2009, the Twins signed 34 year old Orlando Cabrera, 31 year old Joe Crede, and acquired 28 year old Brendan Harris. In addition they gave additional bench and starting opportunities to Matt Tolbert (27) and Brian Buscher (28) who never had any talent.

Luke Hughes has a rare talent: He is a power hitting middle infielder who can be a late bloomer. Luke's career major league isoP is .118 in 335 plate appearances. His career minor league slash line is .268/.330/.419 (.155 isoP) up to his age 26 season. This compares pretty nicely to Dan Uggla's career MiLB numbers (.276/.347/.442, .166 isoP) who had to be a rule 5 pick up after his age 26 season to flourish. Luke Hughes has Dan Uggla potential which was either not seen or not appreciated by the Twins

Luke Hughes is a versatile player: There have been rumors recently around Luke Hughes. By now Twins' fans with an open mind know how those originate: usually when the team (read Ron Gardenhire) does not like someone, certain writers are given tidbits to spread around. Slowey and Perkins (during his grievance season) are a couple of recent examples; even more recently the manager and the interim general manager were publicly saying that they were frustrated by Scott Baker's unwillingness to "let it rip", while the guy had a torn UCL.) The rumors that you will hear about Luke Hughes is that a. he is not a versatile player and b. his defense was suspect. To kill this right away, Luke played all positions in the field, including pitching a scoreless inning (one hit allowed) in a game with the New Britain Rock Cats in 2007, other than Catcher; this season Gardenhire himself named him the Twins' emergency catcher. So if that is not being versatile, I am not sure what versatility is. As a matter of fact, Luke has played more positions than Michael Cuddyer (who cannot play LF) who has been a darling of his manager and thus the Twin Cities media.

Luke Hughes is an above average fielder. The second part of the rumor mill you will hear is that Luke Hughes is not a "good enough fielder" (and ironically this will start from the same people who were starting Mike Cuddyer at 2B and CF last season.) The fact is that in limited opportunities on the field in 3 seasons in MLB, his fielding has been 4.1 runs above average based on Fangraphs' fielding WAR. He saved 5 runs above average based on Baseball Info Solutions defensive runs saved above average. In 319.3 innings his UZR/150 at 2B has been +6.8, and in 282 innings, his UZR/150 at 1B has been +11.0.

They are lesser players still with the Twins. There is absolutely no reason the Luke Hughes should be designated for assignment and Sean Burroughs and Jeff Gray remain with the Club. Do the Twins really need 13 pitchers? Terry Ryan spoke about accountability when he was named the interim manager. I hope that he holds himself and his field manager accountable for their decisions.

I wish the best luck to Luke Hughes who has been in the Minnesota Twins' family for 10 years. Hopefully he will pass waivers and be in Rochester and come back with the Twins under better front office and field management circumstances

The Twins finally win the opening game of a series in Yankee Stadium. Last time they accomplished that feat it was early May of 2001.

Good luck to Scott Baker who is going under the knife of Dr David Atcheck today in New York City to repair his flexor pronator tendon. Wonder if his teammates will drop by to say hi before their game tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Speaking of Twins' games at Yankee Stadium Version 2.0, Jason Marquis is coming back to the Twins and starting the game tomorrow. A roster move needs to be made to accommodate him in the 25-man roster.

Add the newly acquired Clete Thomas to the list of players who have homered in their first game with the Twins

Another one from the Twins' witch doctors' archives. Apparently the diagnosis of Kyle Waldrop's injury is a "strained UCL" (towards the bottom of the article). Such a thing does not exist. It is up there with a "Shoulder Cramp" (Nick Blackburn) and "Inflamed Forearm" (Glen Perkins). Terry Ryan said something about "accountability" when was appointed interim GM last November. More and more this sounds like hot air now, unfortunately, since he not only approbates these announcements, but is the one who feeds them to the press.

The parting shot today is of Scott Baker who is under the knife. I hope everything turns out OK and he rehabs fine and signs an-incentive-laden 1yr deal with the Twins for 2013 after they decline to pick his option.

About Me

This blog contains eclectic musings about baseball, mainly centering on the Minnesota Twins and are mainly numbers-driven. I anticipate a few Vikings tidbits here and there, a bunch of historical statistical analysis, some emphasis on minor leagues and prediction of prospect development and production in the majors... just a place to place some thoughts.
I am a Twin Cities expat and SABR member, living on the right coast and have good access to both Twins' AAA and AA teams, albeit not necessarily their home fields.
Feel free to commend in the blog or email me at thetenthinningstretch at gmail.com